Saddles, wits end!

SophieLouBee

SophieLouBee

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I really don't know what to do with my mare regarding saddles now. She has a back like a table, yet withers like a giraffe.

Wide fits her a treat at the back, but sits on her withers, med fits her on the withers ok as long as you've got a cut back pommel.

At the mo she's in a kieffer munchen medium, which is ok now she has lost a bit of weight/topline, but will be no good next spring.

I want a synthetic as they are lightweight & she seems to prefer them for some reason.

T4 was no good.
Ideal was ok but too heavy & a bit low at the front still.
Wintec won't fit her due to the curve of the tree.
Various other nondescript makes, maxam, other throwogoods, leather ones.
I won't have the norton flexi tree, even though it seemed to fit her.

I refuse to spend near enough a grand on a saddle to be custom made for her, just to happy hack & potter about with my sharer (not even me riding her most of the time!)

So the specification is, synthetic, wide enough at the back, but high enough at the withers, so would probably need to be cut back pommel.

I really don't want to resort to treeless, as I think they are hideous, and the ones that look remotely like a saddle are silly money. Plus I'm not that keen on riding in them.

Huff.
 
SnowfieLouBee said:
I won't have the norton flexi tree, even though it seemed to fit her.

I refuse to spend near enough a grand on a saddle to be custom made for her, just to happy hack & potter about with my sharer (not even me riding her most of the time!)
Click to expand...

Buy the norton flexi tree saddle or save money to get a custom made one. Simples :)




(Yes I know that wasn't much help :p)
 
Sorry, that didn't come across quite right. I won't have the norton flexi tree, because of the tree, being flexible, as in it 'moves to fit the horse'. I think it's had some bad reviews on here too!

She's had various ones flocked and fitted, but this would literally mean me having one specially made for her. Dis-regarding the money, I don't think you can get custom made synthetics? So if I had a leather one made, I doubt she have it anyway!
 
TigerTail said:
Heather Moffett has just brought out a synthetic leather treed saddle, so soft treed as opposed to treeless, which might just suit you. Ive sat on one, theyre very comfy, though not quite as comfy as my HM vogue 0 = )

Pics and info here :)

http://www.enlightenedequitation.com/ee/boards/index.php/topic,45308.0.html
Click to expand...


Thanks TT! That looks lovely! Also, so reasonably priced! I will deffo look into that.

The thing that is putting me off slightly is the 'flexible tree', is it the same as other flexi trees on the market? I don't like they way they 'flex' as it were, and can't see how they can be an good for a horses back at all.
 
The Polly & The Ivy said:
have you tried the Norton with the wintec style changeable gullet rather than flexi tree?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Norton-Rexine-Gullet-Change-System-Saddle-17-GP-black-/200669022380?pt=UK_Horse_Wear_Equipment&hash=item2eb8ce48ac
Click to expand...

I hadn't seen that before, I must say, I'm not a fan of the changeable gullet systems. All the one's i've had/ridden in have been an awful fit whatever gullet size they've had. I guess I could try it though, isn't like I haven't had everything else on her :p
 
buying a saddle for a tricky horse, it's just like me shopping for a pair of jeans that will fit :D

hope you find a solution that works for you soon!
 
jhoward said:
are you aware that the Kieffers are adjustable on the ENTIRE tree??
Click to expand...

Yes! I am! The problem being, it fits the horse it's supposed to be for, my other horse! Who is having to wear his old saddle on hacks, which was custom made for him, but encourages an awful position & the seat is a bit big for me. So I don't want to send it away, when it actually belongs to him bless.

I considered getting another actually, but I couldn't find anyone in my area that will adjust them, but again, it's heavy (for her), and although she's fine in it, you really do notice the difference in her when she's in a synthetic.

She's physically fine, but, if you hadn't guessed she's arab (well arabxtb) but you wouldn't know she wasn't pure, so everything with her has to be a hassle! Her bridle is a custom fitted comfort padded thing, we have gone through 4 different bits because of her low pallet, I've just taken the noseband off the bridle as she prefers it without. Sigh.
 
Firstly every saddle is different, therefore every tree is different :)

You can get cheaper treeless saddles that are literally a pad with two stirrup bars attached, these are bad for pinpointing all your weight onto the two bars and subsequently two points on the horses back.

Then you get makes such as HM and Solution who use shock absorbent padding throughout so that your weight is spread across as wide an area as poss - the equivalent of someone stepping on your foot in a stiletto Vs a wedge.

Your concern over the flexing made me smile in that that is exactly why i wanted a treeless saddle :) I want to be clear when i talk about a flexible tree i do NOT mean the saddle moving from side to side!

Your horse has two sides to its back, in order for her to move the sides of her back move independently of each other as each hind leg comes under and each shoulder comes up back and down. To strap something rigid to that movement impedes it.

It also means there are fixed points which your weight is coming down on - now unless you are a very very very good rider you cannot tell me you can control your descent every time your bum comes down ;)

There are numerous horror stories of what saddles are stuffed with when theyve been sliced open so I wont open that can of worms.

The other thing I like about them is you horse changes shape day to day, week to week, month per month. None of us have an unlimited budget to have a different saddle everyday! What you can be sure of with these saddles is that they will not pinch with solid metal into your horses back. That counts for a lot with me :)
 
P+S- We have had a front riser for a bit, but the pressure was still there on her withers & I really want a saddle to fit properly, I'm fed up of bodging it lol!

TT- Thanks for the info. This could possibly be why she prefers a synthetic, as there is a bit more 'give' in them. I will definitely be looking into that saddle when the GP is available.
 
A well fitted treed saddle allows a horse to move perfectly well, in fact very well, and properly spreads the weight of the rider and the stirrup bars which treeless cannot do in the same way. The only good treeless saddles tend to be more expensive than treed for that reason - they need expensive materials and careful construction to be able to even begin to spread weight adequately.

I fit a lot of Arabs and other wide horses, and a distinct wither plus a wide flat back is not the easiest conbination. As I often say to people who want to keep to a low budget - there are several factors in saddle fitting and if you have more and more of this check list, it's harder to find a used saddle:

Low budget
Tricky to fit horse
Need it "yesterday"

If you can wait then you have a better chance of eventually finding something, if your horse is easy to fit then you'll find one more quickly, if you can spend more, then you increase your options. So many people tick all three boxes and it makes it very hard.

My opinion is that you need a deeper rear panel than many off the shelf saddles will offer you - any bench made (ie hand made English type) can be made with a deeper panel. I fitted an ID cross cob yesterday, W fit (and please don't go down the route of going too narrow to get clearance in front, the tree angle must be correct first and foremost), and we got decent clearance from a wide fit Native Pony Sienna GP with a decent depth front panel, but with hi high wither the saddle sat down at the back, he had a low flat wide back like yours. I will be ordering one tweak to our standard design - half an inch on the depth of the rear panel. Not custom, just requires a deposit as it is non-standard stock.

All companies like Ideal, Black Country etc can do this, but you will need to find around £1000 and obviously work with a fitter you trust.

The horse I saw yesterday was in a Kent and Masters Cob which didn't provide enough height in the wither but was wide at the back like yours - the fitter had fitted it too wide in an attempt to bring the front down to make it level with the back. Wrong! Fit the right width, get the right clearance and then level the back up, in that order.
 
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